Concrete form apparatus



Feb. 22, 1966 c, LOVGREN T 3,236,490

CONCRETE FORM APPARATUS Filed July 25, 1964 um. Hm. i u.

I 1.17 47 jik g6 M 211 Jiuzenfirns'x United States Patent 3,236,490CONCRETE FORM APPARATUS Einar C. Lovgren, Mount Prospect, and Robert G.Hoffman, Rockford, Ill., assignors to Simplex Forms System, Inc.,Rockford, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No.384,744

3 Claims. (Cl. 24945) The present invention relates to an improvement inan apparatus for connecting adjacent sections of concrete forms.

It is standard practice in the forming of concrete walls to usesectional forms which are assembled together to define inner and outerwalls between which the concrete is poured. The form sections arere-leasably connected together, and provision is made for spacer bars orties to accurately position the opposite walls with respect to eachother and to securely hold them in the desired position. One apparatusbeing rather widely used today employs locking levers on one side ofeach of the form sections. These locking levers engage the ties and alsoreleasably attach the section on which they are mounted to the nextadjacent section. Devices of this type are seen in Patents 2,776,464;2,825,956; 2,898,659; 2,920,- 371; and 3,010,175.

While such devices are widely used, they suffer from one disadvantage.In order to make the inside and outside walls line up with each other atthe joints between sections, it is necessary that one group of sectionsbe made with right hand locking levers and that another group be madewith left hand locking levers. Of course, it is necessary for the jointsto line up so that the wall ties or spacer bars can be used at thejoints. One solution to this problem is set forth in Patent 3,055,076.While devices of the type of that patent are in use commercially, theyalso suffer from a disadvantage. That is, that the locking lever mustengage a separate pin on the adjacent form to hold the forms together.The wall tie alone cannot be used for this purpose as in some otherdevices. Furthermore, the form sections always are used the same sideup. This means that one end always is the bottom and receives all thebattering and abrasion on the footings, etc. Furthermore, the steelbracing members (commonly used across the outer face of the sections)must end at the edge of each section. There can be no over-lapping ofthe bracing members to aid in wall alignment.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedapparatus which eliminates the necessity for right-hand and left-handsections. Each section may be used either for the inner or for the outerwall without modification of the section. When they are used for theinner wall, they are used one side up; while they are used the otherside up when employed for the outer wall. Thus, over a period of use,the likelihood is that one end will be the bottom fifty percent of thetime and the other end will be the bottom the remaining fiify percent ofthe time. As a result, the wear and battering that occurs, generally byreason of the contact of the form with the footings, is rather evenlydistributed over both ends. There is an added advantage to thecontractor in that the right-hand and left-hand forms must not be keptseparate, or subsequently sorted out, each time that the forms are movedfrom one job to the other.

In embodiments of the present invention, the metal straps that extendthe width of each section can be made to extend beyond one side of eachsection and thus overlap the adjacent section upon assembly. This is asubstantial aid to the concrete contractor in obtaining rapid andaccurate wall alignment. The wall t-ies or spacers are theinter'engaging member between adjacent sec- Patented Feb. 22, 1966tions. It is not necessary for the locking lever to also engage aseparate stud on the adjacent sections to hold them together.

A further important advantage of the present invention is in eliminatingthe battering of the working faces of the locking levers which normallyoccurs during the process of stripping the forms, i.e. removal after theconcrete wall has set. Usually the workmen in stripping the forms willtake a hammer and strike the locking levers in a direction such as tocause them to pivot to disengage from the wall ties and the connectingor locking pins. With the conventional locking levers such blowsnecessarily strike the working edge of the locking levers, that is theentering edge when the forms are set up and the locking levers are beingconnected. The battering of the working edge of the locking levers thusoccasioned often damages the levers to an extent such as to make itdifiicult later to reconnect the levers in the next assembly operation.The present invention provides a striking face separate and apart fromthis functionally important working edge so that the battering whichoccurs upon the stripping of the forms will do no functionallysignificant damage.

It is also significant that the locking levers are so formed that theywill not be damaged when the forms are moved from spot to spot wherethey are to be used. As will be more fully apparent from the followingdescription, the locking levers have two arms which are angul-arlydisposed with respect to each other. The positioning of the arms withrespect to each other is such that both arms hang down when a section isbeing transported. In so doing they are inside the boundary defined bythe adjacent edge of the section. Thus they are not projecting outwardlyto catch on another passing object or strike a passing object withresulting damage thereto.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a fragment of an inside and outsidewall using forms embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the locking levers ofthe present invention;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an end of one of the metalbands employed in the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged section taken at line 44 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section taken at line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination isdetailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intendedto prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each newinventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it byvariations in form or additions or further improvements. The claims atthe end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose; as itis these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts,improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

FIGURE 1 illustrates portions of four form sections, in position as theyare employed for a wall. In the drawing corresponding numbers are usedfor each section, but with a preface of 100, 200 and 300 being addedthree respectively to distinguish between the sections. Each sectioncomprises a panel 10, 1-10, 210, and 310. The panels may be formed ofplywood. Extending across the outer faces of each panel are two metalbands or straps 1.1, 11.1, 211, and 311. Adjacent one end of the strapsa screw 13 extends through this strap and is secured to the panel.

Adjacent the other end a headed pin 14 is secured to an embedded metalfastening device 15.

Panel has two side edges 17 and 18, and two end edges 19 and 20. Endedges 19 and 20 serve as the top and bottom depending on which side upthe panel is. End 21 of strap 11 is adjacent side edge 17 while end 22is adjacent edge 18. A T shaped slot is defined in end 21 of the strapby a base opening 23 and two arm openings 24 and 25. End 21 of thestraps extends beyond edge 17 of the panel. Edge 17 has a cut-out 26(see 326 in FIGURE 1) in alignment with the top part of the T defined byarms 24 and 25.

A locking lever generally 30 is pivotally mounted on pin 14 adjacentedge 22 of strap 11. F or this purpose the lever has a double slot 31through which pin 14 extends. Lever 30 has two arms 32 and 3 3. The twoarms are formed as right-hand and left-hand members. This may beexplained with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 by considering that thelever 30 is to be rotated in one direction, say for example clockwise,about pin 14 through slot 31. Thus using, for example, a clockwiserotation, arm 32 would be said to have a leading edge 32a and a trailingedge 32b while arm 33 would have a leading edge 33a and a trailing edge33b. The slot formations (hereinafter described) in arm 32 are in theleading edge 32a while in arm 3-3 they are in the trailing edge 33b.Thus arm 32 has a slot 34 adjacent the end thereof. At each side of slot34 adjacent edge 32a are wedge faces 35. A second slot 36 also is formedin arm 32 between slots 31 and 34. Similarly, arm 33 has an outer slot37 extending in from edge 33]) with wedge faces 38 at each side thereof.The intermediate slot in arm 33 is designated 39. Slots 36 and 39 are sopositioned as to fit about a pin 40 secured to strap 11 adjacent end 22thereof.

The method of using the forms of the present invention undoubtedly wouldbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art. However, a briefdescription thereof would be as follows: Assume that in FIGURE 1 panels210 and 310 were already erected but that panels 10 and 110 as yet werenot in place. Ties 45 are inserted across the open end of the two walls.Each tie slips in through openings 223 and 323 in straps 21.1 and 311respectively. It then drops down into arm openings 225 and 325 where itbecomes locked against horizontal movement. The tie would be of the typedescribed in the afore-mentioned prior art, with oppositely flattenedportions defining engaging areas and abutments at each side thereof.Thus, a flattened portion 46 with abutments 47 at each side thereofwould be received in slots 225 and 3 25. Thereafter one panel, say panel10, is moved up into position against panel 210 with side edge 18abutting side edge 217. In this position end 223 of strap 2 11 overliesthe outer face of panel 10.

Locking lever 30 is rotated in a direction such that one arm or theother is effective to engage pins 40 and tie 45. The arm thereofselected for that purpose would be the one that moves downwardly incoming into locking engagement. Thus any movement of the locking leverwould not tend to cause it to rotate in a disengaging direction, such aswould be the case were the arm to come up from underneath rather thancom-ing down from above as illustrated in FIGURE 1. Slot '34 thussecurely engages tie 45 in the flattened area 46 thereof. The lockinglever on the bottom strap 11 (which locking lever is not illustratedinFIGURE 1) would similarly be clamped into place.

Thereafter, panel 110 is moved into place. It will be noted that thispanel is upside down from panel 10, that is the top now is 120 and theend 119 is down while the opposite is true in the case of panel 10.Thus, in this instance, it is arm '133 that is turned downwardly intolocking engagement with pin 140 and tie 45 rather than the other arm 32which was employed in the case of panel 10.

After the wall is poured and the concrete set, the workmen need nothammer on the functionally active working edge of the lever to disengageit and release the panel. Instead he can hammer on a functionallyinactive edge for that purpose. For example, with reference to FIG- URES1 and 2 with prior art devices a workman would hammer on edge 32a torelease the lever. This often caused damage to that edge in the areaabout slots 34 and 36 with the result that the levers might subsequentlybecome difficult to use. With the present invention the workmen canhammer on edge 33a of arm 33 to achieve the same counterclockwisemovement and thus release lever 30 from locking engagement with the tieand pin.

When the sections are being transported levers 3t) hang down from pins14. The two arms 32 and 33 will be each spaced about 45 from thevertical. In this position the arms are substantially within theadjacent boundary of the section, i.e. within edge 18.

We claim:

1. In a concrete form structure of the type wherein a plurality of formsections are positioned and connected together edge to edge to form onewall and a plurality of form sections are connected together edge toedge to form a second wall in juxtaposition thereto, with tie membersextending between the walls at the joints between sections, and witheach section having a generally horizontal bar with a locking leverpivotally connected adjacent one end of the bar and adapted to hold thetie and to releasably connect the section to the adjacent section, theimprovement comprising: said locking lever having two arms angularlypositioned with respect to each other with the included angle betweenthe arms being substantially less than 180 degrees, each arm having,with respect to one direction of rotation, a forward edge and a rearwardedge, one arm having slotted engaging means in its forward edge, theother arm having slotted engaging means in its rearward edge.

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein each slotted engagingmeans defines a first slot adjacent the end of the arm and extendinginwardly approximately normal to said edge, said edge being beveled ateach side of said slot, said means also defining a second slot be tweenthe first slot and the pivotal mounting of the lever.

3. In a concrete form structure of the type wherein a plurality of formsections are positioned and connected together edge to edge to form onewall and a plurality of form sections are connected together edge toedge to form a second wall in juxtaposition thereto, with tie membersextending between the walls of the joints between sections, and witheach section having a generally horizontal bar with a locking leverpivotally connected adjacent one end of the bar and adapted to hold thetie and to releasably connect the section to the adjacent section, theimprovement comprising: said locking lever having two arms angular-1ypositioned with respect to each other with the included angle betweenthe arms being approximately degrees, each arm having, with respect toone direction of rotation, at forward edge and a rearward edge, one armhaving slotted engaging meansin its forward edge, the other arm havingslotted engaging means in its rearward edge, each slotted engaging meansdefining a first slot adjacent the end of the arm and extending inwardlyapproximately normal to said edge, said edge being beveled at each sideof said slot, said means also defining a second slot between the firstslot and the pivoted mounting of the lever; said bar having a T shaped,slot in the other end thereof with the base of the T on the end of thebar and the arms of the T being in alignment with said first slot of theadjacent section, said other end of the bar extending beyond theadjacent side of the section to overlap the adjacent section.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited by the Examiner3,010,175 11/ 1961 Shoemaker 24945 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 235 ififl eta1 Z1 1/1957 Stewart 249 45 W 9-45 3/1958 Shoemaker 249191 L 8/1959Shoemaker 249191 5 J. SPENCER OVERHO SER, um 1y Examiner. l/ 1960Shoemaker 249-214 G. A. KAP, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A CONCRETE FORM STRUCTURE OF THE TYPE WHEREIN A PLURALITY OF FORMSECTIONS ARE POSITIONED AND CONNECTED TOGETHER EDGE TO EDGE TO FORM ONEWALL AND A PLURALITY OF FORM SECTIONS ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER EDGE TOEDGE TO FORM A SECOND WALL IN JUXTAPOSITION THERETO, WITH TIE MEMBERSEXTENDING BETWEEN THE WALLS AT THE JOINTS BETWEEN SECTIONS, AND WITHEACH SECTION HAVING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL BAR WITH A LOCKING LEVERPIVOTALLY CONNECTED ADJACENT ONE END OF THE BAR AND ADAPTED TO HOLD THETIE AND TO RELEASABLY CONNECT THE SECTION TO THE ADJACENT SECTION, THEIMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: SAID LOCKING LEVER HAVING TWO ARMS ANGULARLYPOSITIONED WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER WITH THE INCLUDED ANGLE BETWEENTHE ARMS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN 180 DEGREES, EACH ARM HAVING,WITH RESPECT TO ONE DIRECTION OF ROTATION, A FORWARD EDGE AND A REARWARDEDGE, ONE ARM HAVING SLOTTED ENGAGING MEANS IN ITS FORWARD EDGE, THEOTHER ARM HAVING SLOTTED ENGAGING MEANS IN ITS REARWARD EDGE.